Stormy Tales of Raiushima
by AstraphU
Summary: A collection of one-shot stories taking place in the naval base, more or less based on events taking place during gameplay.
1. Good luck, Great Phoenix!

"Launch!"

A sharp pull gave the fighter initial speed, needed to take off from Kasuga Maru's glove. Its engine sputtered and came to life with a vigorous buzz, accelerating above stall speed. With a sharp pull, its fairy pilot rose the nose up - and a lone Zero darted above the trees, circling around the clearing. The young shipgirl watched it for a while, before reaching for her satchel to prepare another plane for take off.

"Not very efficient"

There was no disappointment or sadness in the voice, just a plain statement of fact - but it still made Kasuga sad. Nervous, she tried pulling the plane too hard - and it took off a deviating to the side, only barely managing to gain enough speed not to crash to the ground.

"No helpin'that, Kaga" Ryuujou shrugged. "Her complement's pretty small either way, so she'd be done deployin' before we get our planes airborne"

"True"

Third plane took off with no issues, although still more roughly than the first one. The trio formed a flight and waited for instructions, steadily cruising above their heads.

"I'm ready!" signaled Kasuga Maru.

Without saying a word, Kaga armed her bow and shot a single arrow. With a short flash, it split into a pair of planes, quickly closing in to Kasuga Maru's group.

The engagement was short, but dynamic. Tracers filled the air above them; special signal bullets shattered against metal plates with bright flashes and loud bangs, signaling hits. 'Shot down' planes circled to the ground, landing at the carriers' feet.

Ultimately only a lone plane of Kaga's remained airborne. Its pilot zoomed between the trio, canopy opened and hand waving victoriously.

"Very good" Kaga nodded, making Kasuga Maru's heart jump with joy. A public praise from her 'parent' was not something happening too often.

"Your pilots have excellent reflexes" she continued, rising her flight deck to recover the sole survivor. "They lack in tactics, but this is something that can't be taught overnight. Great work" she repeated, patting the girl's head.

"My my..." Ryuujou giggled "...are ya gettin' old or what, Kaga? Nobody'd believe me if I said I saw ya bein' all soft an' fluffy"

"True"

The young carrier could not help bursting into a happy giggle and hugging Kaga's chest, inhaling the leathery scent of her muneate. In return, she felt a strong hand stroke her dark hair.

"Let's try one more time. Ryuujou-san, will you?"

* * *

They met up with the rest back in the base, in front of Mamiya's place. The weather was delightfully warm, with a brief spur of sun breaking rainy monsoon streak. Mamiya and Irako put out some tables outside their inn, letting the shipgirls enjoy the fleeting sunlight until it lasted.

Akagi was already waiting for them, a huge cup of cream-pistachio ice cream sparkling in front of her. Souryuu joined them soon, her usual green kimono replaced with a light dress.

"Sorry for Hiryuu" she said after greeting the rest "she got busy with some emergency errands for the admiral and Hibiki-chan. Some new bauxite source to check, guarded by Abyssals. I'd have come too, but those limits he put on resource use mean only one of us could go "

"A shame" Akagi sighed "I hoped to hear some of those stories of hers. They always cheer me up"

"I'm pretty sure she'll have lots of new ones after she returns. Unless of course the egg hatches when she's away - then she'll be the one smad and disappointed"

"I wanna see 'er face if this happens!" exclaimed Ryuujou.

The whole table burst up in laugh, except for Kasuga Maru. Confused, she tilted her head like a curious bird, trying to catch what seemed to elude her in Souryuu's joke.

"An egg? What does smad mean? Souryuu-san?"

"Sad-and-mad" giggled the Dragon, wiping a single tear off her eye. "And the 'egg' is that admiral's pet project. You know, the top secret one everybody knows about"

"Taihou..." interluded Ryuujou, her stare suddenly dreamy and pensive.

"Who...?" for every question answered, a new one seemed to pop up.

"Another carrier from the Old War" Akagi finally started explaining properly, to Kasuga Maru's relief. "She was quite a marvel of engineering, they say. Armoured flight deck, modern air groups... One of a kind. She was built and launched a few years after... after we all here were struck down. The admiral is very impressed by her and hopes they can summon her soon"

"So far with no luck, despite of all the resources consumed. That's actually the reason we're mostly grounded" Souryuu added. "Ironic, as she wasn't a lucky ship either, from what I heard from the old man"

"Technically he's younger than either of us" commented Kaga matter-of-factly. "And besides, don't call him 'an old man'. It is a matter of respect"

Souryuu grumbled something in response and dug her spoon into her chocolate-blueberry ice cream. Meanwhile, as the other carriers moved on to more mundane topics, Kasuga Maru silently processed what she just heard.

Whoever that Taihou-san was supposed to be, she seemed pretty important for the admiral. And if getting her had anything to do with luck…

A small plan hatched in her mind.

* * *

Luckily, she managed to catch Shouhou in her bungalow when both Akagi and Kaga were on a briefing in the HQ.

"Really?" the carrier looked at her incredulously upon hearing her request. "You're sure you don't need my help?"

Kasuga Maru shook her head with determination.

"I'd just like you to show me how you do these things. And if you could help me with storaging them in the meantime…"

"No problem with that, at all. Just to be sure - I'm not supposed to say anything to Akagi or Kaga?"

"Please don't… Kaga-san will surely say my idea is foolish…"

"I am pretty sure she wouldn't" Shouhou chuckled, kneeling to open one of the boxes laying under the shelves. "But if you want it to be a secret, I swear I won't let anyone know"

"You promise?" the young carrier extended her pinky finger.

"Of course I do" laughing cheerfully, Shouhou completed the oath.

* * *

She managed to catch Sendai just after dusk, when the cruiser was preparing for night sortie.

"Well, if that's not our favourite falconer" she ruffled Kasuga Maru's hair. "How can I help you? Kaga stopped being so protective and finally let you go for a night sortie?"

"No… But yes, I could use your help… You know…"

She beckoned Sendai to come closer and whispered her plan to the cruiser, making sure nobody else heard a word.

Sendai listened carefully, her expression changing from polite interest in the beginning, through surprise and amused disbelief, ultimately ending with a gregarious, jovial laugh.

"Well, I'll be damned if I refused! Of course, that'd be a blast to do! Count me in!"

* * *

Something was off.

Okada closed the door to his office and examined the room without taking any step further inside. All drawers were closed. The mug he used for evening cocoa was in its rightful place on the liquor cabinet. Windows were shut, papers laying on the sill undisturbed. But still, some tiny detail was out of its place. The problem was, he could not identify the culprit.

He was pretty sure there were no potential agents or spies on Raiushima - first reason being he could not have imagined any sane human being actually spying for the Abyssals and second being he was the only 'drylander' (as wise men back in mainland called non-shipgirls) on the island. So hostile infiltration was unlikely. However, this left open a far more dreadful possibility.

 _Practical jokes_.

No bucket fell on his head when he crossed the threshold. Potential traps could have been everywhere else, though. Drawers. Cupboard. Wardrobe. His scale models actually weaponized by Yuubari with an aid from a couple of especially mischevious arsenal fairies. Tokitsukaze hiding behind curtains, ready to scream her 'SHIREEEEEEEEE-' when he sits down.

No, Abyssal infiltration actually seemed marginally better. At least he knew how to deal with potential spies.

"Let's spring the trap" he sighed, quoting his second favourite Jedi master.

Nothing happened when he sat down behind the desk. Moreover, he finally managed to identify the odd element.

A paper crane was standing on laptop's keyboard. Made of orange and red paper, it had a sentence written along its wing;

"Please open"

Surprised and intrigued, he complied (chances were the origami hid an especially cleverly hidden firecracker - luckily, that was not the case). The crane's insides were filled with rows of small, carefully caligraphed letters:

 _Mr Admiral,_

 _I heard about the Phoenix Project from Kaga-san and Akagi-san. They said you are very sad and unlucky, because it is eating your bauxite. As a carrier, I can't help much with that. But you are our commander and you should not be sad. So I decided to give you something to grant you good luck._

 _Please don't be mad at Sendai-senpai. I wanted to make it a surprise. I hope she didn't make a mess in your papers when she opened the window_

 _Kasuga Maru_

Eyes wide, he put the piece of paper down - and only then noticed one of the desk's drawers was slightly ajar. He pulled it open - and started laughing out loud.

Its interior was filled to the brim with tiny paper cranes, each numbered and signed with the little carrier's name.

This reminded him of something...

He glanced to the side, at the 'hoarder's paradise' shelf of the closest display case. Between a dried ikebana from Haruna and Samidare's teru-teru-bouzo (high time he hung it back), laid a paper crane from Shouhou.

 _Very, very clever..._

One and a half hour later all cranes were out of the drawer. Lining the rim of the desk, cabinets' top and ever hung underneath the ceiling, paper birds swarmed in every place available. The fiery phoenix ended up on an exposed spot, on the topmost document tray.

The only thing bothering him was there wasn't enough birds; instead of traditional one thousand, he only counted half of that amount. Could it be Kasuga Maru got something wrong? Or maybe she just didn't have the time to make a full thousand?

Well, either way fitting a full thousand into his office would be much, much more troublesome. He just hoped the girl would be happy to see her present on display next time she visits the HQ.

And if it helped with getting Taihou... then he'd be even more grateful.

* * *

"WHAT IN THE BLOOD-"

A flood of paper cranes showered Akashi as soon as she opened the locker. Literally hundred of birds flew out, the thin metal barrier no longer holding them in place. Startled, the chief engineer stumbled on some free laying trinket and fell to the ground, concrete floor brutally hard against her bottom.

Groaning in pain, she shoved a layer of cranes off her uniform. One of them caught her attention; while the rest were plain white, that one was made of coloured paper, its red and orange pattern similar to burning fire.

Following the instruction scribbled on its wing, she unfolded the figure. To her surprise, inside was some kind of a letter:

 _Ms Akashi..._


	2. A Matter of Trust

Dark clouds blanketed the island. Even though clocks showed just after noon, the whole base was basked in dusk, a curtain of rain connecting sky and the earth. The ocean was only barely visible from windows, the sound of its raging waves struggling to break through the constant downpour.

Three figures raced across the central plaza, sharing a single rain coat a good bit too small to cover them all at the same time. They tugged and fought for the sheet of plastic, heads and limbs popping in and out from underneath the cover. Finally, they reached the door to the HQ building and crashed in, heavy wood bouncing off when hinges reached their maximal reach.

The coat dropped to the floor, all three girls more or less soaking wet, their kimonos dripping rainwater.

"A brilliant idea! Like, 'let's not waste time, we'll go already clothed'! Like, _brilliant_!" spat Yuudachi, her hair - possibly neatly pinned up just a while ago - a complete mess.

"Not my fault you're all so slow" shrugged Shimakaze. "If I could ran as fast as I wanted, I'd escape the rain before it even fell!"

"Not sure if it works this way, Shimakaze-chan" despite being the wettest, Shigure didn't really seem to mind. "But I'm just happy we got here"

"And I am not!" pouted Yuudachi. "I am, like, wet and angry!"

"Poor girls" Myokou approached them, a fresh frotte towel in her hand. "Come, dry up, we still have some time before the official part begins"

Watching the scene from the upper floor, Okada could not help but laugh.

"Your sister has a great way to approach children. Putting you four in charge of the academy was a great idea"

"When you're sisters with Ashigara-chan, you need to know how to handle difficult kids" Nachi shrugged. Clad in a navy blue kimono and with her hair loose, face and gestures remained the only recognizable features of the deadpan cruiser she usually was.

"Kids..." Okada repeated, joy suddenly escaping him like air from a punctured tyre. "...kids with guns. Who are actually destroyers. This is fucked up"

"Wasn't war always this way?" she looked at him, her face serenely expressionless. In that she was allmost like Kaga, but with an additinal, barely visible underlayer of cynical realism. "Kids fight. People die. I thought you officers know this better than us, grunts"

He stood for a while in silence, thinking about an answer. Behind them, a bunch of destroyers left the upstairs bathroom. He could have heard Akatsuki's voice, boasting about a 'lumber treasure' her squadron found during latest expedition. If didn't have other things on mind, he'd take bets whether the first one to point out the mistake would be Suzukaze or Ikazuchi.

"Let's go outside for a second" he proposed, pointing at the balcony door.

He closed the door behind them a minute later. Running across the HQ's southern wall, the balcony faced the so-called carrier district - a campus of bungalows, each housing a different pair. He could have seen Hiyou and Jun'you running towards the HQ, their ornamental umbrellas like red blurs in ubiquitous rain. Tinfoil carport above them drummed steadily, bombarded by droplets.

"There's something I'd like to ask you" he started after clearing his throat. "I know we already had a conversation about this, but I just want to ask in a more... private situation"

"Huh...?"

"It's good to have you back here" he started, keeping his eyes on Hiyou's (or was it Jun'you's?) umbrella. "Hikari was... pretty much devastating for all of us"

"I can imagine. But we indeed had this conversation, commander. And I do not wish to reiterate it on my birthday. Especially since I had it much, **much** worse than most of you"

There was little anger in that voice; it sounded more like an unsure trapper approaching a potentially hazardous place.

"Neither do I, Nachi-san. Therefore, let me get straight to the point. You are hard to read, and I my social skills are as simple as Tenryuu's jokes. And there was one question I did not ask back then. Half because I was afraid of your answer, half because there were others around. Now I finally have the guts to do so"

He finally tore his gaze away from the red blur and looked towards Nachi. Her eyes were wide and brows high. For the first time since becoming the commander on Raiushima, he saw her surprised.

"I have no doubts regarding your loyalty. But I always wanted relations here to be built upon something more than just that. Back when our fleet consisted of Tama, Kiso, Saza-chan and Suzu-chan, I kept repeating I want to earn your trust. If you followed my orders only because you were obliged to, I feared one day one of you would refuse to do so. Especially since I knew sooner or later a potential conflict will happen"

Nachi smirked.

"My apologies for disappointing you when the time came, commander"

"I was too successful in my ambition. Your trust turned out to be... misplaced. Things changed after Hikari, I tried to refine my approach. But this is something you already know from one source or another"

"Indeed. Nee-chan was very informative."

"Ashigara is very... yeah. In many ways" he said, the memory of smashed jaw spreading like a phantom pain. "Anyway, I spent a lot of time thinking about all of this. Especially once you returned. And today I think it's finally the time for me ask this question; was your trust in me misplaced?"

This time it was Nachi who looked away - but only for a few seconds. It seemed as if the answer was already in her mind, and she just needed a while to make sure all the pieces fit tight in their places.

"If you mean following an order like that, then yes. I would still do the same thing. If I had any doubts - they were dispelled by what I saw under your command, both before and after the battle with the Princess. _Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley_ "

"Sun Tzu again, huh? What's not to love in you preferences towards books?"

"I presume this answers your question, commander?"

"Yeah, I think-"

Door behind them opened abruptly. In the passageway stood Kasumi, her irritated eyes casting sparks of anger and contempt As usual when she looked at her admiral.

"Kaga-san wanted me to tell you're to stop wasting everybody's time and get downstairs. Seriously, how can a commader be such an irresponsible, laidback slacker?!" she spat out, turned back and left, not giving him any chance to reply.

Okada shook his head with resignation.

"I am pretty sure Kaga didn't use these exact words..."

"I trust she didn't"

"You said this on purpose, didn't you?"

"My only purpose now, commander" Nachi shot him an amused look while crossing the threshold back inside, "is to celebrate my birthday and drink the night away. And I _trust_ you to accompany me in this noble task"


	3. Nachi's Great Moment

"Is that really necessary, Akashi-san?"

"Nope" the pink-haired engineer made some final adjustments before giving armament fairies a thumbs-up. "But the admiral is pretty fixated on this idea. Something about boosting the morale and-"

"-and _looking damn good_ " Nachi sighed, straightening up. "Do your worst then. Let Okada have his little show"

She was standing in the middle of a circular platform, two levels beneath ground level. Straight above them was a plot of land directly connected to the docks, serving as sort of Raiushima's 'display area'. And around her…

The hall was spacious in design, but all the scaffolds, catwalks and workbenches made it feel pretty cramped. Fairies swarmed around, using the few remaining minutes to make some last-time adjustments before putting parts together into a complete assembly. Big guns, AA emplacements, torpedo tubes, rangefinders, secondary emplacements and many, many other elements were combined to create a small engineering masterpiece that was about to be fit on her.

"Hey, it's not that the show is all his to claim" pouted Akashi. "All in all, it's my work being shown to the others!"

"Yeah. Sorry."

Her thoughts drifted away as the fairies started attaching the rigging to her back. Sounds of metal clamps closing, electric screwdrivers whirring and blowtorches making final corrections blurred into a single, metallic suite. Instead, her mind went backwards in time, through a garden of memories and along the pathway that led her to this very place and moment.

She felt the chilling arctic wind she knew from all the endless sorties to the north, where she recently led her taskforce to cripple Abyssal shipping around the Aleutes.

Her fist clenched as she recalled the Abyssal Cruiser Hime, the monster's raging fury silenced forever by her salvo during the Karafuto operation, much to Ashigara nee-chan's delight.

She recalled the joyful celebration of Ashigara's earlier remodel, her reconstructed rigging shining with novelty and eyes beaming with childish joy.

Memories flew by, each older and older, as she reached _that_ point. Crystal-clear visions ended abruptly, replaced by a swirling mess of darkness, sounds and impressions. It was like hitting a wall - a living wall of alien thoughts, scrambled and too messed up for a human mind to process back into a coherent image.

But she's been there many times before and the barrier no longer seemed scary; she just needed to press on, ignore the dark abyss…

...and she came out on the other side, in the middle of the dreadful battle where the light died out. When a single bomb extinguished her flame.

And she regressed further and further into her memories, through all they painful and joyful moments that made her the person she was now. Through the iron poetry of her life, all the way through the times she spent with her sisters. All the way to the second, this time impenetrable barrier that separated her life from the Old War.

"...done" Akashi's voice came from the distance, present time barely able to follow her dive to the past. "Going up!"

She felt the platform beneath her come to life, hydraulics pushing the metal plate up, towards the ceiling. Thick blastdoors separating the assembly area from the outside world opened, letting bright sunlight in. Reluctantly, she pulled herself together and retreated from the realm of memories just as the elevator locked itself on ground level.

"Na-chi! Na-chi! Kai-ni!" came the chant from all around her.

Unflinching despite the blinding sun, she looked around. To the sides stood her comrades and friends from the fleet, cheering and celebrating. Behind her, on a podium, were her sisters, their voices clearly audible against the joyful roar around her. Okada was also there, a few steps below them; he cheered on as well, but making sure he wasn't _too_ loud; as if he didn't want to steal the moment, to let it be the Myokous' own celebration.

She smiled to them all. It might all have been just for show; but if this show was making them all so happy then - let it be.

Servomotors whirred silently, mirroring her every move. Guns followed her sight, turrets adjusting as fast as it was possible. She rose the barrels high up, aiming towards the open sea. Loading mechanisms put shells inside their chambers. With one final click, her new rigging achieved full battle readiness.

"FIRE!" she exclaimed, as ten barrels came to life, their blast drowning the overwhelming cheer only for a single brief second.

It felt good.


	4. Workshop Imps

The helicopter touched down at the pad, its rotor slowing down and coming to a halt. A soldier accompanying them onboard slid the door open, letting in the smell of salt and tropical flowers.

"Hope you all had a pleasant ride" he said with a smile, face blushing and cheeks suspiciously red.

Okada glanced over his shoulder. Well, he couldn't blame the boy for that reaction. Not when you are a hormone-ridden twenty-or-so, sharing the helicopter's interior with Kaga, Souryuu, Hiryuu and a couple of other shipgirls. Blood circulation tends to be... erratic under such conditions. Luckily, he had acquired a certain degree of immunity to that effect.

Plus his summer uniform's trousers were just a bit looser than they should be.

"Thank you private, I think we all appreciated your company"

He let the girls disembark first, giving the soldier a farewell handshake before descending down the deployed stairs. The machine behind him came to back life and took off, heading towards the carrier moored a kilometer or so from the shore.

He briefly wondered how would her incarnation look once she gets fully formed, after decades of service and thousands of people sharing their lives onboard.

Raiushima looked just as he left her a few days ago. This only boosted his spirits, already recharged by that much-needed vacation he had. His backpack filled with Comiket haul, he entered the HQ, wondering how well Fusou handled her duties in his and Kaga's absence.

He was quite surprised to find his office tightly locked. Secretary's office was also closed shut, nobody responding from the other side.

 _Hm..._

The first shipgirl he met back outside was Aoba. Great, if anyone knew where Fusou (or bascially anybody else) was, it had to be the cheerful wannabe journalist. Well, unless they were on the other side of the globe on on their way to the Moon - then she'd take some time to get research done. Like, a minute or two.

"Uhm..." she gave him a puzzled look instead of an answer he expected. "I thought Fusou-san went with you to the mainland?"

"No, of course she didn't" he let out a chuckle. "Yamashiro would never-"

"Didn't Yamashiro-san go with you all as well...? I haven't seen them at all since your departure..."

One half of his mind cursed himself for not making an official announcement about the trip and the effective chain of command, while the second started experiencing the reality at the speed of roughly three WTFs per second.

"Who was running the base then...?"

"Kiso, sir!"

His perception sped up by another WTF per second.

"OK then... do you know when can I find her?"

"At Akashi's, sir! She barely even left that place since she took over!"

"Brilliant. Thanks very much Aoba, see you soon!"

 _WAT._

Akashi's workshop was... silent. Not in the 'shop's closed!' way. No - there was some eerie atmosphere surrounding the place. Something was very much off.

Especially due to the door inside being wide open.

And if Kiso had anything to do with this, the only person he could surely ask for help (or at least expect to provide it) would be...

"Sure thing, gran-dad-miral! If you're scared of Akashi's place, I'm gonna be there in a minute!"

Tenryuu's chuckle echoed in his ear for a good minute after she disconnected. The girl arrived after a while, her trusty sword strapped to her back.

"Well then, grandaddyral? What's so scary ya need Tenryuu-sama's help?"

 _She just needs to vent out living with Tatsuta_ he thought to himself. _You'd go bananas too if that psycho was your sister. Everyone would._

"Actually I think the one needing help might be Kiso. I heard some strange noise from inside, and I think I could use your helping hand"

"Oh, that bastard?" Tenryuu cracked her knuckles, grinning. "As clumsy as she is foolish, I see. Lead the way, commander, I'm gonna laugh my ass off when helping her!"

* * *

Human brain has a certain perception threshold. For example, movies look so real - and not just like a sequence of flipping images - because above certain frequency brains stops registering individual frames. Other senses work similarly.

For example, his WTF meter started giving out just a constant buzz, instead of several clicks per second.

The workshop was... dusty. As if nobody used it for... a few days, letting the resident specks and metal swarfs settle. Not a situation Akashi would ever allow to happen. Not because she was a neat and clean type - but because her hyperactivity would not allow anything to settle down at all. Hell, he once saw her switch between two screwdrivers when the previos one was still falling to the floor after being dropped.

As they crossed the ground floor and descended to the first basement floor, the eerie feeling only intensified. Smelters, macerators, furnaces - all machines were cold and dormant. Even the blast furnace was only barely warm, its hearth not supplied with fuel for a long time. Tenryuu didn't seem to mind though, sword resting on her shoulder, and grin stuck to her face.

It faltered only after they descended to the second floor, where the entrance to the construction pool was.

"Akashi!" Okada ran towards the figure laying on the floor. The chief engineer was bound, her mouth gagged with duct tape. Plus she was barely conscious and visibly dehydrated. At least, safe for some bruises, she was unhurt.

"C'mon Aka-chan, speak to me!" he urged, gently trying to shake her awake. She barely responded, eyes unfocused and a thin streak of drool trickling down her face. Instead of a coherent answer, he heard the last sound he'd expect.

A sword getting unsheated.

"Heh, admiral... I was not expecting you back so fast"

He spun around, only to face Kiso's blade pointed at his face.

"What the hell-"

"Should've stayed on mainland for a few more hours, sir. No worries though, your arrival changes little in-"

"THE ACTUAL FUCK?!"

Tenryuu's sword slashed in front of his eyes, knocking Kiso out of balance. Two girls exchanged a series of quick blows, their movements restricted in corridor's cramped space.

"Get to the pool chamber!" shouted Tenryuu. "That's where she came from!"

Not wasting any time, Okada ducked underneath Kiso's blade, just as Tenryuu started her attack. As he sled past Kiso, he noticed a strange device attached to the nape of her neck. But there was no time for examination. He ran through the door, onto the catwalk...

...only to see whole chamber literally swarming with small, childlike figures. They wobbled around the pool, setting up devices, drawing symbols on the floor and doing all the stuff Akashi did when setting up construction - all in an oddly erratic way. Symbols they used were different. Devices appeared modified and either incomplete, or grossly overengineered. Above all else, there were no fairies to see.

And in the middle of the pool, surrounded by piles of steel, fuel and bauxite, laid Fusou and Yamashiro, bound and gagged like Akashi in the corridor. Fusou's violet kimono was undone and in tatters, her sister's outfit in no better shape. Their eyes darted towards Okada, filled with boundless fear and terror. The closest of midgets followed their gaze - and for the first time, her face became clearly visible.

 _Maruyu._

The rest of them - literally dozens of Maruyus, all identical - turned towards him, their eyes blank and faces featureless. A strange, reddish glow emanated from their chests, just below the suit's upper edge. They made Okada think of homunculi from a manga he read back in high school. The summoning circle the submarines created also brought uncanny associations - although he could not put a finger on it.

Plus he was absolutely, positively and totally sure there were only three of those things when he left the base.

"Commander" spoke one of Maruyus. "Your coming in most untimely. But fret not, for our work here is almost done. Soon, the sacrifice will be complete and our Mistress shall come. And once her long overdue slumber is broken… All will be complete"

"Complete! Complete!" the other midgets chanted in unison.

Pipes lining the construction pool gargled and spew out construction liquid to the pit. Greenish substance crept up towards immobilized battleships, dissolving all that came into contact with it. Fusou's exposed, bare foot touched the surface only briefly before jolting away as far as her restraints allowed - but the sharp hiss of dissolving skin, the girl's agonizing scream and sickening odour of burnt flesh shook the admiral to the bone.

How long did Maruyu plan this? What was going on?! How could she fool everybody so well during his absence?!

He was about to jump over the barrier and run to save the battleships, when the sounds of clashing blades behind his back stopped; instead, another sudden scream of pain made him freeze in place.

For it belonged to Tenryuu.

Before he could spin to see what happened, a sharp burst of blinding pain exploded in his chest. With the corner of his eye, he could have seen the violet tip of Tenryuu's blade proturing from between his ribs. Fusou and Yamashiro shrieked in pain, the acid no longer avoidable.

"Tsk tsk" Kiso's whisper stabbed his ear. "Maruyu-sama does not wish any pitiful being to interfere with her plans…"

Before the cruiser pushed him down to his doom, he noticed one of the clones manipulating the handheld device, her actions perfectly in synch with Kiso's every move…

* * *

He woke up with a jolt, a scream of terror dying in his throat.

"Admiral…?" worried Kaga.

The sound of helicopter's rotor filled the cramped cabin. They were airborne. Raizan's green slopes filled the windows, with sun-bathed Raiushima base below.

Panicked, he pulled out the phone from his pocket, calling one of preset numbers. He got response after two tones already.

"Admiral…?" Fusou's dreamy voice was like a calming music to his tattered nerves.

"I…" he quickly thought of a way to put what he had on his mind to words "...Is Akashi-san in her workshop?"

"Actually, she is here, in HQ. We're discussing new adjustments to project Great Phoenix… shall I ask her to wait for you?"

"No, not needed… Ask her to prepare the upgrade chamber. And be there with Yamashiro in two hours sharp. I think you both could use adding a lucky charm or two to your rigging…"


	5. Admiral's Return

Summer has returned to Raiushima.

Lush vegetation crept up the slopes, leaves rustled by the cool, ocean breeze. The waves around the island sparkled in radiant sun, occasionally disturbed by a patrolling shipgirl's wake.

A lone chopper crossed the narrow strip of water between JS Kaga and the base's helipad. Its dark hull contrasted with old-fashioned, brick facilities around the landing zone. Grass and trees bent under the vortex generated by copter's blades, slowly returning to vertical once the engines stopped. The doors opened, cargo ramp descended - and a single person, wearing a snow-white naval uniform emerged from the inside.

"Took you long enough!" were the first words he heard upon stepping onto the pad's scorched concrete. His gaze skimmed across the small welcoming committee. His smile couldn't have been wider.

"Missed you too, Ashigara" He replied, seeing happy sparks in the cruiser's eyes.

"Welcome back admiral" Kaga stepped forward, greeting Okada with a formal bow. "The base is at full operational capacity. All facilities are ready to resume functioning as normal. "

"I would expect nothing less from my Staff. Great job, all of you." Okada came up to hug Kaga tight, then proceeded to greet other members of the Staff. It took him a second to realise something - or rather, someone - felt amiss.

"Where's Hiei? Is she on a sortie?"

"Oh..." Fusou put a finger to her mouth, thinking.

"She was on the yesterday's meeting, for sure... But later then that..."

The answer came in the form of a frantic scream, getting louder and louder, as its source closed in between the base's buildings:

"HIEEEEEEEEEEEE! I OVERSLEEEEEPT!"

The battleship blasted out from behind the closest warehouse, her hair unkempt and uniform loose to the brink of complete undoing.

"I'am sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry admiral!" she slammed into Okada and Fusou, almost knocking over the other battleship - and making the admiral fall flat on the sunburnt concrete. Another panicked scream brought everyone's eyedrums to the verge of rupture.

"It's OK, OK!" Okada tired laughing and catching breath at the same time, the result ending up sounding pretty grotesque. Kaga and Ashigara were already by his sides, propping their commander up.

"Happy to see you too, Hiei!"

The battleship stood for a second, dumbfounded by Okada's reaction - and then, in a second, tears of fright turned into a joyful cheer.

"So happy you're not mad, admiral! Onee-sama is happy too, she's making a tea party to celebrate the end of your leave and I'll be making some cur-"

Her rambling got interrupted by a deep, metallic thud coming from inside the chopper. An angry shout followed:

"Not a snowball's chance in hell! You're not making me-"

It got abruptly cut short, the resulting silence only disturbed by the clicking of boots against the helicopter's deck. A tall shipgirl appeared on the ramp, a blue cape wrapped around her shoulders. A flurry of auburn hair cascaded onto her arms, mischevious eyes shooting curious glances around.

" _Privet vsem_!" ***** she said, the sweetest of smiles on her face.

"And who do we have here!" Ashigara clapped her hands. "The little cruiser that gave us all a lot of fright back in Leyte! You're staying this time?"

" _Da_!" Tashkent jumped off the ramp. "Comrade admiral approved our permanent transfer here. Looking forward to eating some of your curry again! It was delicious!"

"Wait..." Ashigara looked at Okada, then back at the Soviet shipgirl.

"'Our'...?"

Before Okada could reply, the shout was heard again, this time closer to the ramp and accompanied by what seemed to be sound of something clawing on the metal interior:

"NONONONO, YOU WON'T FORCE ME OUT INTO THIS HEAT, YOU ARE NOT MOLOT-"

A slender shipgirl appeared on the ramp, pulling something massive in her wake.

"Off... we... go...!"

With one, final stroke, she yanked the weight into view. The sound of railing torn away from steel plate mixed with an angry cry - and the last shipgirl barreled into view, knocking Kirov off her feet and making them both roll down the ramp, stopping only at Tashkent's feet.

"Graceful as always, comrade!" Tashkent leaned over the entangled shipgirls, watching Gangut's attempt to scramble back to her feet with glee. "You should really try ballet one day! It surely fits your... _aristocratic_ roots!"The last part came out as a snickering jab, Tashkent barely holding the giggle.

"HEY!" Gangut turned red, fury boiling on her face. "TAKE THAT BACK, OR-"

"My, my!" Ashigara walked over to the Russian trio, helping Kirov stand back.

"So glad to see you back as well, Kirov-san! And... you too, Gangut-san" she finished dryly, barely honouring the battleship with eye contact.

"Gangut and Tashkent have been permanently reassigned to Raiushima" expained Okada. "Following the Leyte operation, admiral Orlov believes tightening the bonds between our bases is in order."

"Naturally!" Ashigara turned back to Kirov. "You're staying here for longer? Aoba will be delighted to see you again! And... I could finally properly introduce you to my sister!"

"A few days only. To make sure comrades adapt successfully to this base's... specification."

"I see, I see! Gotta prepare my special Victorius Curry to celebrate your coming! The extra spicy, 'Summer Dragon' variant!" she rubbed her hands together, eyeing the other Russian shipgirls. Both looked like a step from heat stroke - and the mention of spicy curry only served to deepen Gangut's anguish.

"Anyway, no reason to waste time here!" Okada interrupted the scene. "I want a report on base's operations on my desk in 3 hours. Command briefing with all shipgirls in 6 hours. Kaga, you see to it. Ashigara, Fusou, prepare operational plans for a sweep south, towards Guam. Hibiki-chan, consult Akashi regarding resuming project Great Phoenix. Hiei, see Ganut-san and her comrades to their quarters. Any questions?"

"No, commander!" the choir of voices replied.

"Splendid!"

* * *

 ***** \- _Privet vsem_ (rus. Привет всем) - Hi everybody


End file.
